Sundered Sky
by lyuboiv
Summary: Two maintenance workers' ordinary day at work is about to be thrown into utter chaos, as the skies split open and unleash the unthinkable upon Earth. It's the end of the world, and survival seems more and more unlikely with every passing minute... unless a mysterious space marine can set things right.
1. BEFORE

**SUNDERED SKY**

**Before & After**

By _Lyubomir Ivanov_

(an Oldschool Doomer)

* * *

><p><em>Happy Halloween, fellow Doomers!<em>

_This short story was initially meant to be posted on September 30, 2014, which marked 20 years since the first release of Doom 2: Hell on Earth. However, I had to change my plans and postponed the story for Halloween._

_I tried to make a more "human" story – focused on the people themselves, their thoughts and emotions. The demonic invasion is just a thing in the background – the people are what really matters here. It's split into two parts – "before" and "after" the invasion._

_The story's title is based on the way I imagine the demonic invasion of Earth – with huge burning portals opening in the sky, allowing the infernal fleet to pass. A sundered sky._

_As for the technical lingo – let's just say I translated a huge bunch of technical manuals recently, so this stuff is still fresh in my mind :)_

_- October 31, 2014, 02:07 (yeah, the best time for writing stories is after midnight)_

* * *

><p><strong>BEFORE<strong>

Half past six, yet another boring Friday morning down in the old sinkhole. Dave hated being the first to arrive – he had to be the one to open the hatch and be greeted by a wave of stale air, heavily laden with the stench of rust, mold and sewage. They did their best to get some fresh air into the place in the evening, but in the morning it always stank. They could easily fix the problem with a new set of air filtration units, yet no one really cared about a small waste processing hub – so insignificant that it was built entirely underground, which was the reason for its lovely nickname – the "sinkhole."

As he waited for the suffocating fumes to disperse, Dave engaged in his favorite morning ritual – surveying the horizon. Situated within a large open field, the sinkhole had a pretty good view to the west, where an observer could see the Starport, Earth's largest and busiest; buzzing with activity as shining spaceships took off and landed every half an hour. To the east, he could see the city, waking up for the new day. Dave could even see the lights in some of the windows – people enjoying their first coffee, without having to look forward to spending the whole day underground.

A black dot was steadily approaching Dave. He squinted against it and recognized the outline of Vincent, his colleague. He was a little late today, and the reason for this seemed to be his leg – he was limping. Strange, since he was perfectly fine the previous day.

"Hey, Vince," Dave yelled at the approaching figure, "What's with the funny walk? You've smuggled some booze past security?"

"Ha! You wish," Vince growled, "I tripped over and fell down... again!"

As he approached, Vincent had pulled up his left leg – his knee appeared badly bruised.

"I've always told you the lower walkways were way too dark," Vince continued, "This is probably the fifth time I've had an accident in there."

"And I've always told you that we won't get any replacement parts for those lights," Dave replied, "The mean old sinkhole is not important enough to invest any new parts in it, even something as cheap as lights."

"More like a _stinkhole _if you ask me," Vince sighed, "Well, then maybe they can give us a pair of those new light-amplification things that the UAC is developing."

"Visors? Yeah, right," Dave was sincerely amused now, "They'd never give their cool high-tech toys to bunch of low-ranking maintenance workers like us. Besides, I think only the military may use such hardware. Anyway, how is your knee? Did you use the stimpack?"

"Hell no," Vince exclaimed, "We have one stimpack for the both of us and we're going to keep it for a real emergency... like, if you hack your leg off."

"I guess you're right – I doubt they'd send us a replacement," Dave shook his head and then continued with a broad smile, "You could have had one of those visors if you had made it into the Space Marine Corp."

"Awww, man, don't even remind me," Vince replied bitterly, "I would have made an excellent marine, but they didn't accept me just because I couldn't pass the stupid physical test. I was just slightly overweight, what's the big deal?"

"Alright, marine," Dave stood and headed towards the hatch, "Time to dive into our favorite hellhole. We have to keep this place from falling apart."

The two men reluctantly approached the opened hatch. Dave smelled the air and frowned, but it was now bearable. To an extent.

They had a whole bunch of leaky pipes and defective valves to take care of, and not a single spare part. As always, they'd have to cannibalize old parts and hope they hold up. The old sinkhole should have been decommissioned a decade ago, but re-routing a whole quadrant of sewage pipelines was too much of a hassle for the UAC. They decided a more practical solution was to keep the place in a barely operational state, with the minimum of expense. All they needed was two fools willing to take the job.

* * *

><p>"So, where should we start today?" Vincent murmured. "Shall we fix the cooler intake lines, or maybe tighten up those leaky outflow nozzles?"<p>

"Does it really matter – they will all be faulty again after a few days," Dave sighed, "Let's just make sure we don't blow a gasket because that would flood the entire lower junction. Hopefully, it will be at least a week before the centrifugal pump will need to be dismantled again. I say we clean up the main filters – maybe this will prevent another breakdown of the impeller. At least for the time being..."

Humanity had always had great expectation for the future – everyone eagerly waited for the time when clean and bright cities would replace the cold concrete and rusty metal of the past. Reality, as always, delivered a rude awakening – progress came at a cost. There seemed to be more backbreaking work and toil for everyone, regardless of all the marvelous technological advancements. The spaceport and all the amazing new factories surely looked pretty, yet there always were little muddy holes filled with rust and soot. Humanity had reached for the stars, and yet was still unable to escape from its dirty roots.

* * *

><p>Dave and Vincent sat down to enjoy a few precious minutes of rest. Their work was going better than expected, and perhaps they could go home earlier this day. Staying overtime had become a tradition at this point and the breakdowns seemed to multiply, regardless of how much effort they put into fixing them.<p>

"It's all about these secret projects on Mars and its moons." Vincent was (yet again) sharing his insights gleaned from the stories he had read on the info-net. "Whatever they are doing there is so important and expensive that every single penny that can be spared is redirected there. We are not the only ones in a constant state of shortage. Many other facilities have the same problem, even the ones that are bigger and more important than the sinkhole. Their entire attention is turned towards this project."

Dave frowned and shook his head. "Why so surprised? Whatever they are doing _up there_ turns out a tidy profit, and the stuff we do down here does not. The only reason they haven' shut us down yet is because keeping this place running is marginally more profitable than building it anew. It's all about balancing the books – and those little digits behind the decimal point are more important than both of us."

A moment of silence. They were both aware that the UAC had grown into the largest and most influential corporate entity in existence. Such was their power that they could literally determine the very fate of humanity, whether it was going to be am idyllic utopia or Armageddon. It was not an exaggeration to say that the planet had become a chessboard and UAC were now in charge of the pieces.

"Oh, you can say that again," Vince continued, "The research they are conducting is something so profound tat it could redefine our very understanding of the universe."

"Another of your conspiracy theories?" Dave asked with a wry smile.

"Not just a theory, my friend," Vincent objected, "I know a guy who works up there – at the Deimos base. He has been at the "anomaly" facility (whatever that is) and he says they have literally torn a hole into reality and are looking beyond the boundaries of the known universe."

"Yeah," Dave interjected sarcastically, "And I suppose your source wears a long white beard and a red suit."

"I'm not fooling around, man," Vince felt somewhat insulted, "This guy is dead serious and I know I can trust him. He was going to tell me more, yet he has been suspiciously silent over the last few days. In fact, I've heard no one is able to contact Deimos for the last 24 hours."

"Oh, I suppose it just vanished!" Dave suggested.

"Funny that you say it," replied Vincent, "My cousin Ian is an amateur astronomer. He called me last night, and as we talked about our plans to fix his old car, he mentioned that he couldn't see Deimos for some reason. And that's exactly what I said – _hey, maybe it disappeared_. It was meant to be a joke, of course."

* * *

><p>Dave looked at his watch and frowned – this was exactly the sight he hated the most. The time to get back to work.<p>

"This is all very interesting and I really enjoy chatting with you, old buddy," he started, "Yet the clock says I have a date with a faulty oil separator cartridge and you know how messy it can get. As for you, you shouldn't strain your leg too much – perhaps you can take a look at the settling pool. Just sit down comfortably and check the pressure gauges. They must be accurate, you know, unless we want to blow ourselves up."

His colleague simply smiled and saluted. The two men grabbed their toolboxes and were just about to head towards the sinkhole's central chamber when they felt a strange tremor. Dave stared into Vincent for a few seconds. An earthquake?

Another tremor was felt, and this time it was stronger. A strange noise was heard from outside – it sounded just like a series of explosions.

"Wh-wh-what was that?" Vincent stuttered.

"I'll go check it out, you stay put," Dave whispered, "I've seen what a stray spark could do at the old refueling base and it's not a pretty sight. This stuff burns like hellfire. I'll be right back."

Vince was about to protest, but then he realised his injured leg would slow him down too much. Dave climbed quickly to the entrance hatch and slowly lifted it just a few inches up. Vince could see a strange red light seeping through the opening, as if a giant fire was burning in the sky.

"No... no... it can't be!" Dave gasped.

"What is it? What do you see?" Vincent yelled.

Dave simply shook his head and remained silent. He lifted the hatch just a little more and stared horrified at whatever was going on outside. The red light was now stronger and more ominous.

"Come on, man, talk to me," Vincent insisted, "What do you see? What is going on?"


	2. AFTER

**AFTER**

The two men quickly rushed inside and slammed the hatch shut. They scurried downstairs and huddled in the tight crawlspace beneath the pressure capacitor. Panting heavily, they desperately tried to catch their breath.

"I don't believe this," Dave muttered, his voice shaking, "This is simply impossible!"

"What were these things?" Vincent whispered. His fear had helped him run pretty fast, despite the pain in the knee. "What is wrong with the sky?" he added.

"I don't know, man," Dave frowned, "It's like someone opened a huge hole in heaven and poured pure evil through it. Man, did you see those landing craft, or whatever the Hell they were? And the things coming out of them? How could this be?!"

Vincent simply shook his head and remained silent. He had always believed in the supernatural, but the creatures that walked outside in that moment were too much for him to handle. He could bear the sight of the smaller beasts, but the big hulking monstrosity with the metal leg was too much for his nerves. He just turned around and ran, just ran – without a clear direction. He managed to come to his senses only after Dave pulled him back inside the relative safety of the "sinkhole" and shut the hatch behind his back.

* * *

><p>As they sat in the darkness, the two men tried to avoid thinking about whether they were safe or not. The creatures they saw seemed strong enough to force their way into the sinkhole. If they could open gateways in the sky, they could hardly be stopped by a rusty old hatch. They couldn't get the image of the fiend with the metal leg out of their minds. If it found out they were hiding in here...<p>

"Look, we can just cower in here and wait," Dave started quietly, "If we want to survive this, we'd better pull ourselves together and do something."

"Sure, why not," Vince sneered, "Survival seems easy in those zombie apocalypse movies. Just give me a shotgun and a chainsaw, and let's go!"

"Try to take this a bit more seriously, pal," Dave snapped, "This is not a movie. It is happening. And it's happening to us. So clear your head and let's think of a way to get ourselves out of this mess."

Vincent took a deep breath and tried to focus. "The most logical thing would be to wait for the space marines, but I suppose they've got their hands full elsewhere. So we have to evacuate. What about the spaceport? They must have evacuation ships in there – like those supercarriers that have been docked there for the last few months."

"You probably didn't notice it," Dave sighed, "Bu the whole launch pad was enveloped by some fiery barrier. It must have been brought by the invaders. As long as it's there, nothing can take off. Besides, I think that pretty boy with the metal leg is lurking somewhere in that area."

"Well, bummer," said Vincent, "If we can't leave the planet, then we can at least hide somewhere, hoard some supplies and hope for the best. At least that's what we would have done if this was a zombie movie."

"And get some weapons too," Dave added. "These visitors don't seem like the friendly sort."

It was easier said than done. The two technicians started rummaging through the sinkhole, yet the aging facility hardly had any usable supplies in it. The old stimpack was the only real asset they possessed, yet it was hardly enough. They had no real weapons to speak of, though Dave had always claimed he could rig an improvised plasma gun from several discarded neutrino burst injectors, yet there was no guarantee it could work.

They searched the place for half an hour and then met back in the crawlspace.

"This is it?" Vince groaned, "I swear, if I live through this, the first thing I'll do on my new job would be to have a hidden survival kit somewhere close."

"Smartest thing you've said for the day," Dave smiled, "It's not much, but it should help us get to a place that has more stuff. Now, let's go."

They got up and headed towards the main chamber. The plan was to find the nearest entrance to the irrigation canals and use them to sneak towards the farmlands to the west of the city. Once there, their chances seemed better.

* * *

><p>As they were about to climb up the ladder and open the hatch, a scratching noise was heard from the outside. Dave raised his hand and gave Vince a sign to stay quiet. The scratching stopped and for a second the two men through it might have been a scared animal. A second later they were blinded by a green flash, immediately followed by a small explosion. The hatch was blown away and the entrance was now gaping open.<p>

The two technicians quickly crawled under the floor grating and hid in the shadows, nervously waiting to see who (or what) was coming down the stairs. The footsteps that echoed in the room were unusually loud and ominous. Dave desperately hoped the intruder was human, yet the sight of the two legs that appeared dispelled this illusion.

Strong and muscular, covered with rough hair, irregularly shaped, ending with solid hooves. As the creature came a little lower, they could see its torso as well – muscular, covered by skin with a dull brownish hue. Then they saw the face and could barely resist the urge to scream in horror – a face twisted by undiluted hatred and cruelty, glowing red eyes and large horns. This was no mere alien creature – it was a real demon, in the flesh! *****

The hooves hesitantly clanked across the metal grating. The creature stopped and sniffed the air, then it growled with irritation – perhaps the sinkhole's toxic atmosphere prevented it from detecting the scent of the two hiding humans.

Vincent, however, was not convinced. He slowly started to inch towards the back of the crawlspace under the grating, hoping to run towards the facility's deeper tunnels. Dave desperately gestured to him to stand still, but his colleague was now too terrified to think clearly.

Vincent sprang out and headed towards the southern junction. His injured leg slowed him down quite a bit, yet it was too late to go back. The demon heard the commotion and turned around, its eyes glowing with the anticipation for a fresh victim. The clanking was now heading quickly towards the poorly lit junction. For a second, Dave saw green light dancing around the creature's fingers.

When Vincent realized he had taken a wrong turn, it was already too late. He was supposed to take the corridor that led to the backup stairwell – too narrow for that creature to fit in, but instead he was now standing in front of a pair of high-voltage switchboards. The man turned around and faced his pursuer.

The creature seemed even more terrifying when it towered over him. It reminded him of a huge fist that was preparing to crush an insect. And now he got to play the role of the insect... Just as Vince was convinced he was history, Dave appeared behind the creature and threw a heavy wrench at its head. It didn't even scratch it.

"Hey, freak, over here," Dave yelled at the top of his lungs, "Come and get me, you overgrown space goat!"

The creature reacted immediately – it turned around and the green glow around its hands became stronger. It made a throwing gesture with its hand and Dave was barely able to dodge the ball of green fire that flew towards him. This thing could shoot! And now it was chasing Dave.

The man rushed through the sinkhole, praying he wouldn't make a wrong turn and enter a dead-end corridor. He could hear the heavy sound of the hooves behind his back, relentless and coming ever closer. He took another turn... and ran straight into Vincent. Dazed by the sudden collision, the two men stumbled to the floor.

"What the... what are you still doing here, you fool?" Dave muttered. "You were supposed to sneak out while I was distracting the freak."

"I... I... I couldn't leave you," Vince stuttered again, "We... we can only survive this if we stick together."

_Survival won't be an issue in a few seconds, pal _Dave thought bitterly and turned around the face their impending doom. And there it was – the demon towered above them and the green light was once again growing stronger around its hands. The tempting ray of daylight from the broken hatch was so close and yet so unreachable, as there was no way to go around the creature. It was way too fast and did not seem to get tired. Dave and Vincent closed their eyes...

* * *

><p>...And were deafened by a mighty shotgun blast. The demon screamed with pain and staggered. Green blood sprayed Dave's face – it was scalding hot and he frantically reached to wipe it off with his sleeve. The demon tried to turn around and face its attacker, but another shotgun blast made it kneel on the floor, oozing blood and disgusting slime from its numerous wounds. It made one final attempt to throw a ball of green fire before the third shotgun blast shattered its skull into a hundred tiny fragments.<p>

The two maintenance workers blinked against the light, trying to discern the figure of their unexpected savior. The newcomer stepped forward and they could finally see the details – filthy boots, pants torn in many places, a blood-stained green uniform, clutching a smoking double-barreled shotgun in his hands, and wearing the kind of helmet that they had only seen on TV and in the movies.

A space marine.

He took his helmet off and they could now see his face – a man in his early thirties, and he looked very tired, as if he had not slept for days. His eyes, however, were still alert and full of vigor. He was still ready and quite willing to fight.

"You guys are very lucky," the man spoke with a firm voice, "If I was just a few seconds late..."

Dave had finally overcome his shock by this unexpected turn of events and stood up to greet the marine properly.

"Thank you, sir; your arrival was most timely. I am Dave and this is my colleague – Vincent. We are just maintenance staff here at the sinkhole... I mean, at this waste processing hub. We were just about to leave this place when this thing surprised us."

"Nice to meet you," the marine said with a slow nod. "By the way, do you have any stimpacks?"

Dave quietly pointed towards the small white container that was lying on the floor. The marine quickly took it and unpacked its content.

"Yes, that's definitely better," he murmured after injecting the package's content into his arm. His face didn't appear so tired anymore.

Vincent had finally managed to stand up and calm down, and he was now eager to join the conversation: "Thank you so much, sir! If you had not shown up, we would have been toast! Anyway, what are these creatures? Are they invaders from another planet?"

"Another planet, hmmm, well, not exactly," the marine replied hesitantly, "They come from... _elsewhere_." Something in the way he spoke the last word sent chills down the spines of the two technicians.

"If you're here, then the rest of the Marine Corps is on its way as well, aren't they? Aren't they?" Dave asked with renewed hope.

The marine grabbed his helmet and pressed a few buttons on the inside. He listened intently for a few moments, then shook his head.

"No, they are not. I've been trying to reach them ever since I came here. All the channels are dead silent and this could only mean one thing – they've been wiped out. I could find a few stragglers here and there, but that's pretty much all. The invaders have the upper hand for the time being."

He remained silent for a few moments, allowing the news to sink in.

"How do you know all this? Are you a member of the regional defense force?" Dave asked.

"Not quite," the marine replied with apparent reluctance, "I am the last survivor of the task force sent to the Phobos base when this whole mess began. The team went in and I was left to guard the ship. They are all dead now, but I continued the mission."

"Phobos?!" Vincent gasped, "But this is so far away. How did you get here?"

"Well, let's just say I took an unexpected _detour_," the marine winked, "I managed to learn a couple of things about our visitors and I know just how mean they can be. We shouldn't stay here – let's move!"

* * *

><p>They climbed outside through the charred remains of the hatch and looked around. The eerie red portals in the sky were gone, yet the city in the distance was ablaze and there were occasional explosions among the buildings. The spaceport seemed dark and lifeless, and the entire launch pad was still under the cover of the unholy barrier that was cast over it. The situation seemed hopeless, yet the marine was unusually calm.<p>

"Can we beat them?" – Dave was surprised to hear these words come out of his mouth.

"Of course we can," the marine replied quietly, "They bleed. They die. And I am sure their brute strength is no match for some good old-fashioned space marine training."

The marine finished surveying the horizon and turned to face the two men.

"You cannot come with me – I am going to the spaceport and I will find a way to lift that barrier. You should have plenty of time to sneak to one of the evacuation ships and get on board before they take off. Just keep your eyes and ears open. Avoid people that behave weird, especially if their eyes seem to glow. They are _former_ humans and they will hunt you down without mercy."

"Wait, so you're just going to leave us," Vincent could hardly believe this.

"There is no other way," the marine replied grimly, "Your best chance is to get to the evac ship. As for me – I am a marine. I have a job to do. Perhaps we will all live long enough to meet again and remember about this day... or perhaps not. Anyway, it's time to go."

The two technicians reluctantly agreed. Their grabbed whatever supplies they had managed to salvage from the old sinkhole and headed off towards the besieged launch pad. Just then, Dave stopped and faced the mysterious marine one last time.

"Hey, just one more thing," he yelled, "What is your name?"

The marine stopped and remained completely still for a few seconds. Then he smiled and waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.

"Does it really matter? It's not like someone is ever going to interview me or something..."

And then he disappeared in the haze.

**THE END**

* * *

><p><strong>*<strong> Did you recognize it? It's a Hell Knight.

* * *

><p><em>I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse of Hell on Earth through the eyes of two ordinary guys. Before and after.<em>

_Twenty years since Hell first came to Earth. I believe Doom 2 is the most popular (and most played) part of the Doom series, however the heart and soul of the series can be found in Ultimate Doom, especially the original three episodes._

_More fan fiction – coming as soon as I manage to do it. And you can be sure there will be quite a few sleepless nights, since this is the best time when I can concentrate and really get things done..._

_Until then, folks!_


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